The present invention relates to a vehicle.
Japanese Translation of PCT International Application Publication No. JP-T-2013-530877 discloses a conventional vehicle. The vehicle has a vehicle body having therein a front wheel housing, a disk wheel and a tire. The disk wheel is fixed to an axle of the vehicle in the front wheel housing. The tire is mounted on the disk wheel. The vehicle has a side sill located on the rear side of the front wheel housing and having a high strength.
In the event of crashing of the vehicle at the front thereof, the tire and the disk wheel are displaced backward and collide against the side sill of the vehicle body. Breakage of the tire and the disk wheel by the collision absorbs the collision energy. In addition, the side sill prevents the deformation of the vehicle compartment.
In recent years, the small overlap crash test has been attracting the attention of those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains as a method for evaluating the safety of passengers in the vehicle when the vehicle is crashed at a specified speed against a barrier which is set at such a position that a predetermined percent of the total width of the vehicle strike the barrier on the driver side. In the vehicle of the above-cited Publication, there is a fear that the disk wheel may break the passenger compartment of the vehicle in the small overlap crash test.
The present invention, which has been made in light of the problems mentioned above, is directed to providing a vehicle which ensures a higher safety of the passenger in the vehicle compartment in the small overlap crash test.